The Lost Soul
by Llegion
Summary: Annabeth is dead and Gaea is in his head. Could things get worse? Yes: he can get thrown in Tartarus again. Can Percy, with an unexpected ally, survive the horrors of the Pit again? Good?Kronos.
1. Chapter 1

_Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. There's no way anyone actually believes this… Right?_

These thoughts and many like them ran through the head of the Hero of Olympus' mind. He looked around at the fourteen gods of the Olympian Council. His mouth moved, yet no sound emerged.

"I shall ask you again, _demigod_," sneered the Lord of the Skies, his eyes oddly vacant. "What say you to these accusations?"

Percy's mind refused to function properly; there was no way that they actually considered _him_, the _Savior of Olympus_, a traitor. He had, literally, died for Olympus. His heart had stopped beating for thirty-seven seconds. Just to stop Gaea from rising.

_Thirty-seven seconds._ Whispered the voice in his head, Gaea's voice, hidden from the Olympians, he should know, he had asked several to get it out. _Thirty-seven seconds of death for them, and they believe that you faked it. That you _deceived _them. Tell them, tell them that they don't deserve your loyalty, that they all deserve to perish for the wrongs they've committed, for the lives they've cost for their survival, for _her _life._

"No." He whispered, as much to the voice as to Zeus.

"Speak up _hero_." Zeus snarled, though his eyes retained their far-off glaze, refusing to back up the words coming from his mouth.

"No, Lord Zeus, I am _not _a traitor. Why would I ever _want_ to be? Why would I turn my back on Anna-" here his voice caught, refusing to remind him of her absence, of the lack of her constant presence behind him, encouraging him. He forced out her name, though his voice tried to strangle it in his throat. "On Annabeth's sacrifice? On my friends? I have never betrayed _anyone_, never given _any_ of you reason to doubt me. I have always stood by my family, by Olym-"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!" Zeus shouted, his hand unconsciously reaching for his master bolt, though not actually picking it up, as it was still recharging from the battle with Gaea less than three days ago. He breathed heavily, obviously tired despite the three days of rest everyone involved with the Second Gigantomachy had had. "Due to sufficient evidence, I move that this council finds you guilty of treason. All in favor?"

_What council?_ Whispered Gaea, as persistent as always. _The council that follows him blindly? Questioning his choices only when they can benefit from it?_

_Shut up._

The council just looked at Zeus in shock, confused as to why he had suddenly turned on their hero. Even Athena was confused as to why Zeus was behaving this way, though she had theories ranging from his wounded pride at being saved by a demigod to mind control from the remnants of Gaea's consciousness. Unfortunately, none of her theories were quite matching up with what was happening, though the mind control one was pretty close. Zeus, ignoring the lack of any support, raised his arm into the air and said, "By the order of the Olympian Council, I hereby sentence this traitor to an eternity in Tartarus!"

At his command, a pit opened up in front of him, which seemed to lead straight to the core of the Earth.

"Bring the condemned forward." When none of the gods moved to grab Percy, Zeus glared at them all, some amount of emotion finally showing in his eyes. Finally his gaze fell on Apollo. "Apollo, I order you to throw the traitor into the Pit!"

Apollo let out a strangled chuckle, his eyes showing fear even as his voice tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, Big Z, how'd you manage to make a pit into the Earth when we're in a floating city above the Empire State Building, huh? I mean, what's up with that?"

Zeus was obviously displeased at the lack of obedience and began to stand up to threaten Apollo. Immediately, Apollo stood up, trying to pacify his angry father. "No, dad, no need to get up, I got this."

As he approached the stunned Perseus, almost all of the Olympians, except Dionysus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Demeter, snatched up their respective symbols of power, which were also still recovering from the battle much like Zeus' bolt, and began to approach Percy as well, though they seemed intent on stopping Apollo more than throwing Percy in the Pit. Zeus yelled at them to stop, seemingly growing more unhinged at his order being defied, but Apollo, actually thinking for once, motioned for him to stop. "It's cool, dad, we're just going to decide who gets to throw the traitor into the Pit."

The gods all met in front of Percy at the same time, several began raising their weapons to threaten Apollo, but he motioned for them all to meet in a huddle.

"I have an idea." He proclaimed proudly, though in a hushed voice to keep Zeus from hearing.

"This better be good." Poseidon growled, refusing to believe his son to be a traitor.

"I agree, we can all agree Perseus is innocent," Athena said, the confusion on her face obvious. "But how can we stop Zeus from carrying out his sentence? He obviously isn't listening to reason, or else he would have seen that the evidence of Percy's innocence far outweighs the evidence of-"

"I know," Apollo interrupted, "which is why I'll take Percy, approach the Pit to get Zeus' guard down, and then flash him out of here at the last second."

"But what if you can't? Zeus might have the enchantment up that stops people from flashing in and out of the throne room." Artemis countered. "We need another plan in case he does."

"Have you seen the way he's acting?" Hades pointed out. "I doubt he's been thinking clearly enough to bother setting up the shield."

"Yes, but if he did-"

"Then I'll think of something else." Apollo said, clearly growing tired of the argument. "Besides, I think dad is getting pretty impatient with-"

"Are you all done yet?" Zeus shouted; his impatience clear. "One of you just throw him into the Pit and be done with it!"

"Sure thing dad!" Apollo called over his shoulder. The assembled gods returned to their thrones and sat, though their muscles were tense in case anything went wrong.

Percy didn't react when Apollo approached, too busy arguing with Gaea in his head. He jumped when a hand fell onto his shoulder, then looked up in fear at Apollo, who merely winked as he slipped something into Percy's hand. He started to look down, but was stopped by the subtle shaking of Apollo's head, so he let his arm fall to his side, keeping the small metal object hidden in his clenched fist.

Apollo whispered to Percy as he ushered him towards the Pit, "On three I'm going to flash you out of here, okay?" Percy nodded.

"One"

"Apollo, stop talking with the prisoner!" Zeus yelled, angry at his apparent lack of decorum.

"Two"

"I said stop, Apollo, or so help me-"

"THREE!" Apollo shouted, grabbing Percy's shoulder and standing there awkwardly. "Well." he muttered, half to himself, half to Percy. "Looks like the shield was up after all."

"WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS!?" Zeus roared, charging around the pit towards Apollo and Percy. Unfortunately for him, the seven Olympians on Percy's side were prepared for this and leapt from their thrones, their symbols of power at the ready.

Artemis, annoyance clear in her voice, called to Apollo, "Now don't you wish we had a back-up plan?"

"Got it covered, sis!" Apollo called back, sounding quite pleased with himself.

"Well, what is-" Artemis was cut off again by the sudden appearance of the sun chariot, which would have been unusual in and of itself had it not appeared by smashing down the twin doors at the front of the throne room. The car spun itself and stopped, its front pointed towards the entrance and its trunk only a foot or two from Percy, who was, unfortunately, not as heat resistant as Apollo and immediately began to sweat buckets.

"Go, go!" Apollo said, ushering Percy towards the driver's seat of the car.

"But I can't drive this!" Percy said, Gaea's voice completely forgotten in the heat of the moment.

"You have the keys and you have a license, you're good to go!"

"I don't have the- oh." Percy looked down at the object in his hand, placed there by Apollo. He quickly dove towards the driver's seat but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. His eyes traced the hand up the arm to its owner's face. "Lord Zeus?" Percy glanced back to the other Olympians, who were currently holding down Zeus. "But you're-"

"Over there? I know, Perseus." The new Zeus replied, his eyes dark with an emotion Percy couldn't quite name, though it was more akin to annoyance than anger. "And why I'm over there when I'm clearly over here will soon be straightened out."

"Unhand me!" The first Zeus shouted, his eyes still dead, though now they were at least moving. "I am your king!"

"Actually, that would be me." Thirteen Olympians and one imposter nearly suffered whiplash from turning to look at the new Zeus so quickly. "And I would appreciate it if you'd stop using my face, voice, and other traits."

The imposter sneered at Zeus. "We _shall_ see that _boy_ in Tartarus, no matter the cost."

"You're not really in much of a position to do much." Hades drily pointed out, finishing wrapping the imposter in stygian iron chains.

"You're a little… tied up." Apollo said, grinning at the assembled gods, only to get whacked upside the head from an annoyed Artemis and a slightly more amused Hestia.

"Yes, I might be incapacitated." The imposter said, drawing astonished looks when he melted into shadows, his voice lingering in the air. "But my brothers… not so much."

WHAM! Percy was sent flying forward, skidding to a halt mere inches from the mouth of the Pit, a small but noticeable amount of blood leaking from his head. The gods whirled to the sun chariot and the entrance of the throne room, only to be met with twenty shadows, all charging towards the Olympians and one standing directly where Percy was mere seconds before. Several of the spirits dove into Zeus' body, which went rigid and shook for a few moments before becoming strangely still. The rest of the shadows began to engage the Olympians in battle, though they were clearly outmatched.

"Perseus Jackson." The voice issuing forth from Zeus' mouth was clearly not his own, his body walking forward almost like a bad robot: sharp and jerky. "By the order of the Olympian Council, I hereby sentence you to an eternity in Tartarus!" Standing over Perseus, Zeus' arm grabbed Percy by the collar of his shirt, and held him over the Pit. Zeus' eyes flickered between the vacant look the imposter had and a look of defiance. His right arm began to loosen, almost dropping Percy into the Pit, but his left arm lunged forward and held Percy by his collar instead. "Let go." Zeus' mouth said, though his eyes said no. Percy, still groggy from his head injury earlier, struggled feebly to gain a hold on Zeus' arm, but to no avail. Zeus' hold on his shirt began to slacken, and Zeus' eyes grew wide with horror as the realization that he couldn't stop his own arm dawned on him. Zeus mouth twisted into a smirk and said three final words. "Goodbye, Perseus Jackson."

The last image Percy would see before a week of darkness and falling was Zeus' arm outstretched over the Pit and shadows streaming from his mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** **Thanks to the people who reviewed, I'll try not to screw up the story for you. Also: I have not decided on a pairing for Percy yet. I would like to have a romantic sub-plot, but I have not decided on a pairing. Leave a comment or send a PM on who you want as Percy's love interest. I'll start a poll on Saturday based on people's interest. Side note: Annabeth is STAYING DEAD. So sorry, no Percabeth, it's overused. Sorry. Please R&R.**

Percy's POV

After doing the same thing multiple times, most people tend to notice that it takes a shorter amount of time than it did previously. Apparently, the same cannot be said for the fall to eternal damnation. On the bright side, I had company again. On the downside

_Zeus probably wanted to get rid of you, he just needed a good excuse._

_Shut up._

Falling to eternal damnation with the avenging spirit of a Primordial goddess muttering conspiracies in my head. Probably one of the weirder moments of my short life.

_You outlived your usefulness to them, and now they want to get rid of you. You're too much of a threat. They fear you._

_Do you have an off switch? Or do I just have to ignore you?_

I almost began to wish for Leo's incessant babbling about anything and everything. At least he was outside of my head, and I could get him to stop for more than one minute.

_What's the matter, _hero_? Do you not like when your great-grandmother comes to visit?_

After falling for so long, I began to get tired. Last time it seemed to take days to fall, so I had time to nap, right? I don't know, I lost track of time that time too, but the real question was: did I want to sleep?

_Of course you do, _hero_. Your eyes are so tired, your limbs so heavy. It wouldn't hurt to close your eyes for a while. Dream of your lost love._

Oh, right. There's a reason I haven't been able to sleep long enough to truly rest. Gaea has decided that, as her executor, I should get to relive the moments leading up to her "death" every time I go to sleep. Needless to say, watching Annabeth get run through every time I fall asleep has… _dissuaded_ me from ever truly sleeping.

And I thought normal demigod dreams were tough on my sleep. Turns out, having part of a primordial goddess' consciousness in your head is worse. Who knew?

Unfortunately, between Gaea's incessant droning, the pretty serious head wound, and what must have been at least several hours since I began falling, I was about ready to crash. Quite possibly in more ways than one. I looked down towards my feet, but there was only darkness. Thankfully, I looked up as well.

_Crap, crap, crap, crap._

Turns out falling without any reference points means you might flip upside down sometime during your trip. Thankfully, a familiar landmark was directly below me.

_SPLASH!_ For the first couple seconds, there was no sound other than the sprinkling of water falling back into the river of misery. Then the voices started up again.

_There's no escape, no hope. You're trapped forever. Why bother struggling?_

"Hey guys! Great to see you too!" I said, my voice as cheery as possible. The river seemed to recoil from me, before the voices picked back up. Though this time they seemed more confused.

_Impossible. Why-how are you back here? Never could have gotten out._

I took my chance, while the river was distracted I swam for the river bank and climbed out before the depression could grab hold of me and deaden my limbs again. I was, however, confused as to how I wound up in the river of misery again. Granted, I was glad that the river was there to stop my fall without killing me, but wasn't it running under Italy?

_The Cocytus River is the usual entrance to Tartarus from the outside world. It reminds those trapped that there is no hope, no escape. Of course, you can always cast a spell before coming down to make your landing zone somewhere else, but that requires preparation._

What the- Was Gaea actually helping me?

_We're going to be down here a very, very long time. I'll have to keep myself entertained somehow._

Was her voice actually sounding… warm? Must be something in the water around here. Heh, see? Even in hell's hell I can still make jokes. Almost reminds me of when I was here with- No. Don't think about her, just keep moving.

_Perseus._

_Yeah, Gaea?_

_Do you trust me?_

_No._

She either didn't understand me, or decided to ignore me because she continued. _Well, did you know that the Cocytus was once used to test young heroes?_

_I don't believe that._

_Believe it or not, it's the truth. They used to bathe in the waters to see if they could survive misery like no other. It weeded out the weak from the strong. Do it, Perseus. Be like the heroes of old. Bathe in the River of Misery, see if you have the strength to survive._

_No._

_But-_

_NO. I'm not going to get in that river of my own free will. Are you insane?_

_Heracles did it._

_So? He was kind of a douche to people._

_He was famous._

_But he was a total jackass doing it, so I'm not going to do it. I fought in _two _wars. I don't need to know how I'll do when faced with misery._

_Fine._ She fell silent, which both worried and relieved me in equal parts. Now, I just needed to find the Phlege-something. If he remembered correctly, it should be at the bottom of a- Yes! There's the cliff!

I began to climb down the eighty foot drop, but noticed something was different from last time. I was better off than last time I was here. Why-

_DON'T FALL!_ My hand nearly slipped as my passenger reminded me of her presence, but I managed to regain a handhold long enough to catch my breath. Well, as much breath as you can when your sixty-some feet above a field of spikes, pain, and certain death, that is.

_Gaea, don't do that! Do you _want _me to fall?_

_Maybe a little. Besides, I need _some_ way to entertain myself._

_Could you, maybe, find a way that doesn't involve my death?_

_Oh, but child, where's the fun in that?_

_Figures. Could you at least explain something to me?_

_How you're in better shape than last time you were in here?_

_Yeah, how'd you-_

_I'm literally in your head remember?_

_Oh._

_Yeah, now listen: I really don't know how you're better off. Quite frankly, you're one of the few demigods to actually fall into Tartarus. And as far as I know, the only one to manage to fall down here a second time, never mind survive the first._

_Why are you being so helpful?_

_Well, if you die, this part of my consciousness returns to my main consciousness and joins it in sleep for the next couple millennia._

_If you go back to sleep if I die, then why are you trying to kill me?_

_Boredom, mostly._

_Well thanks, I feel very special._

_You should._

I descended the last twenty feet in silence. As I started walking towards the Phlegethon, I got curious about one other thing.

_Hey Gaea._

_Yes, Perseus?_

_Why did you try to make me swim in the Cocytus? You must have known it wasn't going to kill me, or do anything really bad to me, so why try to make me swim in it?_

_I don't truly know, young Perseus. I suppose part of me is still annoyed with you for sending the rest of me to sleep._

_What do you mean _annoyed_? I just ended your plans for world domination and the slaughter of mankind. Aren't you a little bit _more _than just _annoyed_?_

_Well, between my haunting your dreams for the past three days and you're getting thrown into Tartarus, I suppose my anger has largely dissipated._

_Thanks. I think._

_Besides, I've got the rest of your, relatively short, mortal life to exact my revenge._

By this time, I'd gotten to the Phlegethon and was bending down to drink. It tasted just like the last time I drank the flames. Which is to say, terrible.

After the convulsions died down, I stood up straight and started to think of ways to escape Tartarus. No myths were coming to mind about any heroes escaping Tartarus, and the Doors of Death were almost certainly out of commission. What to do? What to do?

_You could always follow the monsters._

_Gaea! Stop trying to get me killed! Why don't you just go to an unused corner of my mind and just sit there quietly. I never use math, go to wherever that is._

_I'm serious Perseus, how do you think monsters always manage to return to the surface? They find the Doors of Death, go through them, and pop out somewhere in the gods' current country of residence._

_No. I almost died the last time I went after the doors, and I had Annabeth by my side then, and even then we needed help from a Titan and a Giant. There is no way in _Hades_ I'm going into the middle of a horde of monsters by myself and without a plan._

_Would you do it for a Scooby-snack?_

_What? First off, why would I do _anything_ for a dog treat? And secondly, how do you even _know _that show? You fell asleep _long _before television, and you _definitely_ weren't around long enough to get distracted by a freaking _kids show_!_

_Peace, Perseus. Need I remind you that _some_ part of me is awake at _all times_? Just because most of my consciousness is asleep almost always, doesn't mean I don't know what's going on. I must say, I've grown quite fond of you humans._

_Seriously? Then what was all that "destroy all humans" stuff when you were trying to wake?_

_I said I'm _fond_ of you humans. I never said I was okay with your destruction of, well, me. You're constantly cutting me open, taking what you want, giving nothing back, it's quite distressing._

_So, you're basically doing it for the trees?_

_No, I'm doing it for me. It's quite hard to sleep when billions of little insects are stabbing your body with little swords._

_Oh, sorry._

_Look, we've gotten off track. Just follow the endless hordes of regenerating monsters and you'll eventually find the Doors of Death. You'll have to be fast, though. The Doors aren't staying in one place for long anymore._

_I already told you, no. I'm going to stay right here until an Olympian comes to get me out._

_I see. And nothing can change your mind?_

_Nothing._

_Not even for two-_

_I swear to Zeus, if you even _think_ about referencing Scooby-Doo, I'll- I'll-_

_You'll what? Kill me? Been there, done that. Kill yourself? Seems a little counter-productive, to me._

_Whatever, the point is: I'm staying here until _someone_ comes to get me._

_Anyone in particular, or can it be anyone at all?_

_You know what I mean._

_So be it._ To be frank, I'd almost forgotten what it was like without Gaea's presence in my mind. It felt like the sky had been lifted from my mind, and trust me: that's a _lot_ of pressure.

Of course, her parting words probably should have warned me that something was up. That she was planning something. But, I was never very good at paying attention. And as I would learn a week later: I should probably pay more attention to immortals.


	3. Chapter 3

"Shouldn't it have hit the bottom yet?"

"Quiet Apollo."

Most mortals would expect the great Olympian council of gods to have better means with which to measure the depth of a hole. However, when the pit swallowed every spell, GPS, and measuring tape they threw down it, Apollo and Hermes had resorted to throwing rocks down it.

_WHIRRR_

The fourth automaton in as many minutes flew down into the pit from Hephaestus' throne.

"Has Hecate made any progress on that barrier?" Zeus directed the Council's attention to the hole where the doors once stood, through which said goddess could be seen glowing with magic, sending a steady stream of energy into the dark dome of shadows which surrounded the council hall.

"This spell is ridiculously powerful and complex, especially for any single god or goddess to have cast." Hecate called, though her voice sounded strained from the spell. "This is going to take at least another hour. And even then, there might be more layers."

The tapping of sandals on stone sounded from within the barrier. Several of the more edgy Olympians, namely Apollo, Hermes, and Ares (who was really just looking fir something solid to hit), raised their weapons towards the sound. Apollo and Hermes relaxed their weapons when Athena emerged from the wall, but Ares merely tightened his grip on his spear.

"Ares, relax, the shadow-born are gone." Athena called.

"How do I know you aren't possessed by one? They could have gotten you when you went through that barrier." Ares growled, moving threateningly towards her.

"Oh, for the love of Zeus" Athena muttered. "I sent back Hecate, didn't I?" At Ares' continued advance, Athena sighed. "Fine, I am neither a copy of Athena, nor am I possessed. Am I telling the truth, Apollo?"

"Yeah, she's good." Apollo, who had begun bringing up his bow at their exchange, dropped it again, breathing a sigh of relief.

Ares reluctantly brought down the point of his spear, obviously displeased by the lack of things to stab. Athena unslung the satchel from her shoulder as she climbed over the rubble that was once the imposing entrance to the council's chambers.

"I have some books from the early ages on punishments for 'crimes against the council' as well as a book on the servants of Nyx, which had information on the things we fought. Here, Ares," she threw the smaller, though still formidable, book from the stack at said god of war. "Make yourself useful for once. Find out how to fight those things. They were far too powerful for a run-of-the-mill servant."

"Why? Whackin' 'em 'til they died worked just fine." Ares growled, clearly _not_ in the mood for cooperating. Athena, however, knew just how to get his mind on the right track.

"Because this way, you get to 'whack' _more _things."

Ares glared at the book before, at Athena's insistence, grudgingly picking it up from the ground where it had fallen. Athena continued, "Thank you. Now, onto the punishment inflicted upon poor Percy." The silence became, if possible, even more tense and uncomfortable. Every sound from the shuffling of feet to the rustling of clothes seemed to echo and threaten to shatter the tension. "I believe, judging by the wording and method of execution, that the punishment was a 'Thousand Years of Exile'."

Poseidon looked up from where he sat, knees tucked under his chin, and his face seemed to pale even further. "What do you mean 'Thousand Years of Exile'? We have no time limits on banishments, it's always been innocent, eternal banishment, or execution."

"That's because this isn't from an Olympian book of Law. If it was, Zeus would have been able to undo the punishment already. Instead, this is from the Council of the Primordials' Guide to Law. It's a first edition." Athena said, obviously pleased.

Dionysus was confused. "I thought the Primordials were gone. Obviously a few, like Gaia, were around but I thought most had faded. Like Ouranos. How could Peter have possibly been sentenced by a long-faded council?"

Athena sighed. "If you'd read more than the vintage on your next wine bottle, you'd know that the First and Second Ages never ended, they merely stopped being active in the world. Technically, Chaos and the Primordials are still in charge."

Artemis paled, "So, there's an entire council of beings, each as powerful as Gaia, who just sentenced one of our most powerful demigods to a thousand years in Tartarus, and are most likely angry with us for killing one of their own?"

Athena thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that sums up our problem quite nicely."

"Enough talking!" Thundered Zeus. "Now that we know where the pit leads, we shall form a rescue party and retrieve Perseus from the Pit." Several of the council began nodding their heads in support, but Athena nipped their plan in the bud.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said, shaking her head. "The hole will close in the next three hours. Besides, according to the scroll, it sends whoever goes down it to 'the hell of their hell.' Which, for demigods, is only Tartarus, while for us gods it's-"

"The realm of the faded." Interrupted Hera, her face frozen in horror. "A thousand years of nothing."

"Then we shall send a force of demi-gods to rescue him." Zeus amended.

"But they're too exhausted from the battle with Gaia." Athena pointed out. "Besides, then they'd be subjected to the same fate."

"Then what _can_ we do?" Poseidon cried, on the verge of tears. "How can we help my son?"

The silence returned, if possible, heavier than before. That alone showed the importance of Percy Jackson. Rather than argue over every small detail, they were actually thinking, something the Olympian Council was not exactly famous for.

"I have an idea." A voice, almost swallowed by the silence, called out. All eyes turned to the apparently six-year-old goddess sitting by the hearth. "Why don't we send him something to help him?"

Poseidon looked up with hope forming in his eyes. "You mean ambrosia and nectar and-"

"Yes, Poseidon." Athena interrupted, understanding where they were going with the idea. "We can fill a chest or something with everything he needs to survive in Tartarus. Hephaestus can make the chest, and Hermes can enchant it to ensure it arrives with Perseus."

Poseidon's face lit up in the first smile the council had seen in a while. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to it!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, I finally found the notebook this was in and managed to type it up. I'm going to take a break from this to work on my Hiccelsa story, cause I'm drawing a blank on how to continue in a non-overused way. I'm also still trying to decide on a pairing, so any help on that would be great. Thanks for reading!**

_Why don't I feel anything?_

Percy hadn't moved from his spot by the Phlegethon since the thought had come to him. Why didn't he feel anything over Annabeth's death? She was his girlfriend. He loved her. He was supposed to feel _something_ from her death.

Right?

Well, at least he had a while to think about it. At the very least until the gods sent someone to get him, which was taking an abnormally long time. Not that he knew how long it usually took the council to get someone out of Tartarus. It just seemed like they could reverse fake-Zeus/possessed-Zeus' decision fairly quickly, send Hermes, and get him out pretty quickly. His thoughts soon turned back to Annabeth's death.

"Why don't I feel anything?"

Percy was halfway to his feet, his hand in his pocket for Riptide before two thoughts hit him. One: Riptide was gone, presumably still in Dirt Face's, well, dirt face. Second, he had accidentally spoken aloud. His voice sounded foreign, cracking from either disuse or the heat of the Pit. Probably both.

"Huh, so all those monsters, all those battles, all those deaths, all that pain. And I go crazy from being alone for what, a day?"

After a long contemplation of his descent into insanity, Percy was jerked out of his thoughts by a loud whistling sound, like a bomb dropping in a movie. He turned and looked back up towards where he had landed to see a shape falling from the inky blackness to land with a very loud thud and a _very_ large cloud of dust.

Percy whirled around to grab a last drink from the river before turning and, grimacing from the taste, starting off towards the cliff.

LINE BREAK

_I'm back, miss me?_

Percy swore as his foot slipped and dangled by both hands, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the painful, sharp, hot, and altogether unhelpful cliff.

_What the Hades- GAIA!_

_Yes? _Her voice asked, practically dripping innocence.

_I thought I got rid of you!_ Percy scowled at the rock in front of him, as though blaming it for all his troubles.

_Oh, you silly boy. _Gaia's voice, her amusement clear, echoed in his head. _You'll never be rid of me. I'm actually not supposed to be able to leave your head. But I was called away on… business._

This just made Percy angry. _What, were you called away by the Let's Screw Up Percy Jackson's Life Committee or something?_

_Actually, you're not far off._

Percy almost fell off the cliff. Again. _Wait, you mean there are actually people intentionally trying to screw up my life!?_ He couldn't believe it.

_Oh please, Perseus, you should have learned this from that silly camp. Everything is predestined, remember? The Three Fates that watch over all you silly little humans? Your string of life they watch over?_

_So the fates are out to screw with my life? Just great._

_I never said that._

Percy was starting to get angrier, and he wanted nothing more than to punch Gaia in the face. Unfortunately, as she was sharing his head, that would mean hitting his own face. He settled for a deeper scowl and insults.

_So I guess they also predicted that you'd get killed and have to hide IN MY HEAD._

Gaia hesitated, and Percy could almost see her miffed look. _No, they didn't exactly expect that… Although Ana-_ her voice cut off, as though she was about to say something she shouldn't.

_Ana? Who's Ana?_

_No one._

_Tell me._

_No._

_You were answering all my questions earlier._

_Yes, well, why do you think I had to go to that meeting?_

_Wait, you were serious about that?_

_I think that I've been far too helpful to someone who almost _killed_ me._

_It's not my fault you tried to take over the world._

_Nope, it's the fates', remember?_

_You're kidding, right? You can't just blame everything you do on fate. Er, the fates._

_Either works, Perseus. And for the record? Yes I can._

_No you can't, everyone is responsible for _their own actions._ Otherwise there wouldn't be three different places in the Underworld. There would just be Asphodel._

_When did you become a philosopher?_

Percy thought about it, but his anger was making it hard to concentrate. But his brain, probably from the malnourishment and the fire drinking and the fall into _Tartarus_ finally snapped. He began to break down laughing, barely able to hold onto the cliff face.

Through his bout of insane laughter, his cloudy mind faintly heard Gaia's voice say something along the lines of _"Oh great, my host is a complete nut-job."_

LINEBREAK

The figures sat in a pitch-black room, their thrones were arranged in a V formation with the throne at the apex empty. The power that the beings were releasing was enough to vaporize any lesser being in a matter of seconds. However, the tension in the room was palpable, and the figures shifted uneasily in their thrones.

"What is the matter, sister? What could not have waited for the next meeting?"

"I'm… nervous. I don't think that your plan is working."

"Nonsense, we all voted and agreed that this was the best plan available. I understand that you believed this solution unnecessary, but-"

"But I promised to go through with it. Yes, I know, and I don't intend on backing out. However…"

"However?"

"I don't think he's… responding well."

That single statement caused an uproar in the room. Several of the figures swore in long-forgotten languages, while the others yelled at the being that had brought the news, calling the being a liar. Finally, the one who had spoken quieted them down.

"Quiet! All of you! Yes, I know that you don't believe me, but you have to understand, we might be pushing him too hard."

"Gaia, do I have to remind you of what we discussed previously? We cannot allow ourselves to get too attached to young Perseus. Once we've completed our task-"

"We'll have _him_ back, I know. But… But what if we're doing it wrong?"

"We're running out of time, you know this. We've tried going slowly in the past and it _hasn't worked_. So we-"

"Decided to speed up the process." Interrupted one of the quiet figures who had stayed out of the conversation. "Yes, we all know this. However, if he is truly… failing, perhaps we have the wrong hero."

"Impossible." Interrupted another. "I have seen where that boy's future lays. My daughters have seen it too, and they concurred that this _must happen_. We cannot rebuild what is not broken down. In order for his destiny to be achieved, Percy Jackson must be broken."


End file.
